DIXFIELD — All that time spent shooting free throws at the end of practice paid off for Dirigo High School on Friday. 

The Cougars made a living at the stripe, and with the game on the line, knocked down crucial free throws down the stretch.

They hit 17 of 18 free throws in the fourth quarter and avenged a season-opening loss to Boothbay with a 73-66 victory over the Seahawks in their Mountain Valley Conference matchup. In the process, the Cougars handed Boothbay its first loss of the season.

“We have tough-minded kids,” Dirigo coach Travis Magnusson said. “They were ready to step up and knock them down. We’ve been working a lot on condition and that’s really helped us. Our conditioning was good.”  

The Cougars (8-2) went to the line a total of 42 times, knocking down 34. Their final seven points came from the charity stripe. Riley Robinson, Dirigo’s latest member of the 1,000-point club, scored 15 of his team-high 20 points from the line. He was 15 of 16 from the line and knocked down all eight in the fourth quarter. 

“Lately we’ve been focusing on our conditioning,” Robinson said. “Ever since the Winthrop loss we’ve been doing a lot of running.”

In a game that featured 55 fouls, both teams relied heavily on their bench with starters dealing with foul trouble. Gavin Hebert provided a spark for Dirigo with 14 points off the bench. With Robinson and Cameron Turner picking up their second fouls in the first quarter, Hebert stepped up and contributing nine first-half points. His final bucket of the first half gave the Cougars a 29-28 lead with 1:29 left after they trailed by as many as seven earlier in the quarter. 

“Our bench really came in and gave us a lift,” Robinson said. “Gavin Hebert played great, Clay Sweet played great. We played with a lot of energy.” 

The Seahawks (9-1) led 32-31 at the break and grabbed a 40-34 advantage with 3:28 left in the third quarter. John Hepburn scored six points during the Seahawks’ mini 8-3 run to open the half. 

Dirigo responded with a 18-3 run to take a 52-43 lead. A 3-pointer by Sweet with 37 seconds left in the third quarter gave the Cougars their last lead and Hebert closed out the frame with a trey from the right corner. 

All four of Dirigo’s third quarter field goals came from behind the arc. 

Free throws stretched the Cougars to a double-digit advantage early in the fourth quarter, but the Seahawks didn’t go quietly. Despite playing with four fouls, Hepburn scored 11 of his game-high 22 points in the fourth quarter. He brought them to within 58-53 with 4:36 remaining and 66-62 with 1:37 left. 

“There’s six or seven teams who are really good,” Magnusson said. “Boothbay’s right up there at the top and we have to play our best to beat them. It was an exciting game. That’s what high school basketball’s about. They have some really good players, great coach and they play really well together. It took our best game to beat them.” 

Hepburn was one of four Seahawks to finish with four fouls. Evan Hepburn and Nick Gorey fouled out. Four players for Dirigo also finished with four fouls. 

“There were a lot of fouls called, but there were a lot of fouls called both ways,” Boothbay coach IJ Pinkham said. “I didn’t think we played very well. There were so many fouls both ways that I don’t think we could get anything going. There was no flow to the game at all.”

No matter how close the Seahawks got, Dirigo had the answer at the free-throw line. Robinson, Sweet and Hebert all hit their free throws in the final minute to stretch Dirigo’s unbeaten streak to 31 games at home. 

“We hit a lot of big shots down at the end,” Sweet said. “If it wasn’t for the free throws at the end they easily could have come back into the game. Free throws and energy of the bench was the key tonight.” 

Sweet finished with 16 points. 

Julian Aponte joined John Hepburn in double figures for the Seahawks, scoring 13 points. 

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